Press Releases

AIM North America (AIM NA) announced this morning it has named Basil S. Jeffers of NASA as the recipient of the 2018 Automatic Identification Technology (AIT) in Government Award. The AIT Award, created in 2013, is presented annually to an individual, committee, group, or organization from the government sector that has championed the successful use of automatic identification technology within local, state, or national government. It is sponsored by the AIM NA Public Policy Committee, dedicated to raising awareness about AIT and encouraging the adoption of AIT policies within U.S. government agencies and the U.S. government contractor community.

Basil Jeffers currently serves as the Project Lead Parts Engineer for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Considered one of the most complex NASA missions in modern history, JWST will be a large infrared telescope with a 6.5-meter primary mirror. The telescope will be launched on an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana in 2020 and is anticipated to be the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide.

As the building of the telescope components progresses in multiple locations across the U.S., it is necessary to track every single component - not only so that when it is time for the final assembly, but so that none of these high value parts or equipment is lost or misplaced. These two factors - tracking the hardware for assembly (so that no time is lost, and parts are assembled correctly) and being good stewards of taxpayer dollars, ensuring that nothing goes lost or missing are the key goals with this radio frequency identification (RFID) project being lead by Mr. Jeffers. This application is truly unique in that it embodies the simplification and automation of a process with RFID. Because this is one of many ongoing projects at NASA it shows the benefits gained by utilizing an RFID based solution, from both a low-cost implementation to the simple overlay it provides to an existing process.

AIM North America announced the selection of Mr. Jeffers at the annual AIM Partnership Breakfast held during RFID Journal LIVE! earlier this morning in Orlando, Florida. The award was presented by George Daddis, CEO of Omni-ID, an AIM North America member and corporate contributor to the JWST project.

For more information, contact AIM North America Headquarters by email or phone (724.742.4473).